When they were kids Lee and Truman Capote were next door neighbors. To Kill a Mockingbird was based on a 1949 Groveland, Florida rape case. Four black men were charged with the crime. One of the men was killed during their capture. The other three men stood trial and were convicted of the rape. On their way to prison all three men were shot in an apparent escape attempt while they were shackled hand and foot. Two of the men died at the scene and the third man, who was wounded, was later stomped to death in his Umatilla, Florida jail cell. The woman who claimed that she was raped later recanted her story. The sheriff of Lake County Florida at the time, Willis V. McCall, killed each of these innocent men. Years later Jackie Gleason played the Sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit. That character was based on Willis V. McCall. It’s life’s minutia that’s such fun to know.
Buford T. Justice was based on a Florida Highway Patrolman Burt Reynolds knew from Jupiter, FL. Burt Reynold’s father was also a policeman and some of the character’s mannerisms came directly from Reynold’s father…
When they were kids Lee and Truman Capote were next door neighbors. To Kill a Mockingbird was based on a 1949 Groveland, Florida rape case. Four black men were charged with the crime. One of the men was killed during their capture. The other three men stood trial and were convicted of the rape. On their way to prison all three men were shot in an apparent escape attempt while they were shackled hand and foot. Two of the men died at the scene and the third man, who was wounded, was later stomped to death in his Umatilla, Florida jail cell. The woman who claimed that she was raped later recanted her story. The sheriff of Lake County Florida at the time, Willis V. McCall, killed each of these innocent men. Years later Jackie Gleason played the Sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit. That character was based on Willis V. McCall. It’s life’s minutia that’s such fun to know.
Buford T. Justice was based on a Florida Highway Patrolman Burt Reynolds knew from Jupiter, FL. Burt Reynold’s father was also a policeman and some of the character’s mannerisms came directly from Reynold’s father…
We disagree.